The court extended the two-year arrest of journalist Muravitsky on a trumped-up case of treason
The Zhytomyr court extended the round-the-clock house arrest of journalist Vasily Muravitsky, who is accused of “treason.”
Muravitsky himself announced this on Facebook, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Today my house arrest was extended. It was the third year of house arrest, the fourth year of persecution. In Ukraine, there have been isolated cases of detention under house arrest for more than two years over the past 5-10 years. Isolated cases!” the journalist wrote.
He also added that in the two years that he has been under house arrest, he has never violated it, although law enforcement officers are constantly monitoring him.
“At the same time, for six months the case was not even considered in essence. Let me remind you that I am accused of manipulating public consciousness for the benefit of a foreign state - as if I undermined the entire information security of the country with an article on the site! Ask, is there such an article in the Code or is there such a criminal offense as manipulation of consciousness?
But, apparently, they are not judged according to the Criminal Code. There’s not even such a word there, let alone an article!” noted Muravitsky and summed up: “I’m just thinking, but aren’t they ashamed themselves? Right in front of you?"
At the same time, as Ukrainian journalist Ruslan Kotsaba said in a video interview with Muravitsky, the journalist’s arrest was extended on the same day when right-wing radical Sergei Sternenko, who killed a man, was recognized as a victim in the case. “Repressions are starting under the new president and the new Verkhovna Rada,” Kotsaba said.
In response to this, Muravitsky noted that “the repressions did not end.”
“The mechanism that was launched, it was not stopped by the new president, unfortunately. No effort is made to restore justice. We are not against the severity of the law, we are against this severity being applied selectively. For one it is hypertrophied, for another it is in no way noticeable. It’s a simple fact when prosecutors fail to appear in court 20 times,” Muravitsky said.
The journalist noted that the cruelty against him is exaggerated - he has been under cruel preventive measures for four years now, without violating any of them. He also added that “dissent in Ukraine is now much more dangerous than violent crime - robbery, murder.”
He gave an example when in Zhitomir a judge chose a preventive measure in the form of night house arrest for three months for a person who severely beat a local journalist.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.